Originally compiled in 1958, this book (Volume I) remains standard issue in most university courses on the study of Japan prior to 1868, whether that class is literature, history, philosophy or anthropology. The editor, Wm. Theodore de Bary, and one of the compilers, Donald Keene (see Keene, "On Familiar Terms") are two of the most highly regarded Western scholars on the subject of Japanese culture and literature, each having devoted an entire lifetime to the subject.

On the whole, Sources of Japanese Tradition, Vol. 1 is a reference book on intellectual development in traditional Japan. It is essential for anyone interested in developing a deeper understanding of Japan over a period of time, which means it is not intended as a quick read.

Volume I is mostly an overview of traditional literature, poetry, aesthetics, religion and philosophy from the earliest written works until the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate in the mid nineteenth century. The chapters are chronological and thematic, and each is prefaced with historical context for better understanding. The chapter bodies consist of translations of some of the most representative works from Japan, including excerpts from Japan's most famous novel, "The Tale of Genji" (early 11th century), as well as numerous samples from the spectrum of Japanese Buddhism (not just Zen), and plenty on the philosophy of neo-Confucianism and other Chinese influences on Japan. On the downside, although there is some discussion of Haiku poetry, there is not enough. And unfortunately, Kabuki, Japan's most popular form of theater, and Japanese painting, which has greatly influenced modern artists in the West, are hardly mentioned, and Japanese music is not even addressed. This makes the book somewhat of a companion to political, social and economic history - which is outstanding if that is what you are looking for.

The book represents the yardstick of compilations on Japanese intellectual history and should not be intimidating to readers who have some knowledge of Japan, nor too simplistic for the more informed. Because it is the old standard bearer, there is a definite need for an updated version that includes more for contemporary audiences, such as better discussions of Kabuki, Haiku and scroll painting. However, the volume is organized well enough for readers to concentrate only on sections they have immediate interest, making the book accessible to a variety of readers who seek a broader understanding of traditional Japanese culture and intellectual history.

This book is a wonderful introduction to modern Japanese history. It is an anthology of important sources, beginning with the Shinto revival of the 18th century, through the Meiji Period, World War II, into the 1950s. This is an invaluable reference work for anyone concerned with Japan's development over the last two centuries.

This book is wonderful introduction to Japanese history. It covers Japan from the earliest sources through the late Tokugawa Shogunate in the 18th century. The sources trace political, social, artistic, philosophic, and religious trends throughout Japanese history, in the words of the Japanese of those former periods. Selections from all the important source material for Japanese history are assembled in this book.

This book takes you throug the depths of reasoning from different angles viz. science, philosophy, spirituality, humanity and more. And the ultimate aim: how ther are just different parts of the same string. Must read !!

With this debut collection of essays, George Klein, Holocaustsurvivor and one of the world's foremost cancer researchers has joinedthe growing list of scientists willing to share their experiences in science with the general reading public. By all accounts, this is an impressive start. The essays range in content from personal anecdotes about science and scientists, travelogues, discussions on virology, genetics and cancer, misuses of science in Nazi extermination camps to reflections on death, religion and ethics. His writing is simple, unpretentious, original and a delight to read. If this gem of a collection is any indication of things to come, we are in for many such treats in the future. Read it, enjoy it, treasure it, this book is a memorable reading experience.

Not since I read Sir Peter Medawar's essays on science and scientists have I encountered such clarity in language and thought and a commitment to portray science as it is really practiced, subject to the same motivations and biases as any other human endeavor. The first section of the book, "The Wisdom and Folly of Scientists" deals with such issues. The tempo and style of Klein's writing is defined early in the book in the essay "The Emperor's New Clothes" (my favorite in this collection). In this story he explains the phenomenon of scientific "conformism", the tendency of scientists to accept or reject a new finding without critical thinking, and how this may hinder or even damage scientific research.

In the essay "Are Scientists Creative" Klein uses the biologist Sol Speigelmann's dilemma, Is my work worth anything? (Something that many scientists must have agonized over at some point) to explore the nature of scientific creativity and to contrast it with the artistic temperament.

In "Ultima Thule" he talks to the German geneticist Benno-Muller Hill about the ugly history of the eugenics movement and its culmination in the mass murder of Jews. How could this have happened? How could respectable scientists commit such unspeakable misuses of science? Were they all psychopaths? Klein discovers some surprising answers. One would have thought that after the excesses of the Second World War and our current understanding of genetics, the theory of genetic inequality would have been finally put to rest. Instead, this distasteful topic keeps surfacing every now and then. H.J Muller's 'genetic deterioration' hypothesis, our attitudes towards AIDS patients and Singapore's "race improvement" program through preferential matrimony are recent examples of such misguided thinking. Will we ever shake ourselves free of these prejudices? Klein offers no easy answers, just a warning to keep vigil.

In the section Viruses and Cancer, Klein displays his abilities to explain the difficult concepts of virology, genetics and cell biology in uncomplicated and understandable language. The essay "The Tale of the Great Cuckoo Egg" is particularly fascinating. It traces the history of cancer research, from the early days when all cancer was thought to be of viral origin to its present state of understanding. The story beautifully illustrates how 'pet theories', coincidences and pure dumb luck all played their part in some of the most important discoveries of 20th century biology, finally leading to the discovery of oncogenes, the growth regulatoy genes of the cell.

La Condition Humaine, the final section, is also the most philosophical, as Klein reflects on our will to live, our sexuality, attitudes towards death and dying and religion. 'Eternal Printemps' begins with some entertaining examples of our attitudes towards sex. Klein uses quite a few examples, from classical music to the sexual mores in Sweden, the Masai and the orthodox Jewish community in Jerusalem to summarize his 'kaleidoscope of sexuality'. A section on sex as a genetic process and how it evolved as the dominant mode of reproduction in the eukaryotes, puts the preceding discussion on human sexuality in a more sobering perspective.

The last chapter 'The Atheist and the Holy City' set in Jerusalem, is his most personal writing. Here, George Klein, scientist, humanist, philosopher, attempts to reconcile his atheist beliefs in a city steeped in religion. No one can convince him of the existence of God. The scars of Auschwitz are too deep to heal. What has this century taught us? Where is mankind heading? Like Peter Medawar, Klein also believes that this century has been what it is because of science, and this conviction resonates throughout his writings.

In the end, this book is George Klein's personal journey, undertaken to make sense of some of humanities most basic constructs; religion, sexuality, ethics and morality, how they conflict with, and are sometimes better understood within the framework of modern biological thought. I suppose, anyone who has lived the life he has, will finally have something to say. As he admits in the preface," the words have welled up in me. I needed only step aside and watch them flow". Indeed they flow, in a calm, soothing, passionate and gently persuasive manner. We need to just immerse ourselves in them to experience the mind of an extraordinary scientist.

The Brakhage Lectures are a collection of avant-garde filmmaker Stan Brakhage's reflections on the techniques and contributions to cinematic evolution of four major directors-- Georges Melies, D W Griffith, Carl Dreyer and Sergei Eisenstein. It was first published in May 1972 at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where Brahkage taught and delivered these lectures (or rudimentary forms of what turned into these writings) during the fall and winter semesters of 1970-71. The book is 106 pages in length, 23 of which are taken up by reproductions of photographs and film stills. It includes a breif foreword written by the poet Robert Creeley.

Brakhage has produced a lot of writing, but most of it reflects upon own aesthetic process. Occasionally he turns his thought toward the work of his compatriots in the avant-garde-- as he does in FILM AT WIT'S END.

As a document of Brahkage's thoughts about the more tradition cinema, with which he had little to do, BRAKHAGE LECTURES is a fascinating artifact. Brakhage's Romantic construction of the genius of these filmmakers and his insistence upon finding meaning in the most minute details of their lives provides a more telling portrait of the author than of his four subjects. The various essays are also riddled with insightful obsvervations which demonstrate both Brakhage's knowledge of film history and the discourses which penetrate it. As a text on film theory, it is less relevant-- there are many better published works on all of these directors.

Accessible, well-written, and utterly compelling history is loaded with facts and dates, but more than that, this book places each president in the context of his times. Therefore, we come to understand the era itself; with the policies, debates, and legal questions fully explored.

Very nice selection of classics and recent articles in philosophy. The editors' introductions are helpful, though Graham's style is sometimes too chatty, and the intro to Aquinas' five ways contains a list of the five ways which contains a glaring error. Also, note that this book is too long for even a full-year course. A full-year course can cover only six of its eight chapters. So, it really is bulky for a half year course (three of the eight chapters). But even then, it's good stuff, and not too expensive even for the half year.

This is an excellent insider account of Rickover's efforts and
accomplishments. Dr. Rockwell really makes the history come alive.

This is an outstanding book that details the service of Grant and Meade towards the end of the Civil War. The story is told by the right hand man for both Grand and Meade. Lyman served both generals as their closest assistant. Much of the story comes from letters Lyman sent to his wife during the course of the war. The author's insight on both men is great. Several times in the book, he tells the "real" story of what happened at a certain point in the war that differs from what history says happened. It's like getting the inside scoop on what really happened.

As a parent, I do not like this book. I have two boys and they both love it. They would read it every night If they could. I find it very frustrating, on most pages there are more things wrong they the number they ask for. For instance, if it say 4 things are wrong, my boys usually come up with 6-7. I have tried to donate this book to charity several times, but my boys will not part with it. I just don't have the heart to get rid of it without their consent. Your kids will love it, As a parent I don not recomment it.

Wacky Wednesday

Theo LeSieg

Reading Level 1.2 

Wacky Wednesday is a great book for younger children! I would really recommend it! The illustrations are wonderful, bright, funny and very cute! Wacky Wednesday is a very good book for finding and helping children to look for different objects. It is really quite fun trying to find the things that are wacky!!

This book deserves more than five stars and is one of the best beginning readers ever created!

Wacky Wednesday combines the interesting repetition of a beginning reader with a fun set of picture puzzles. The two features are wonderful together for encouraging careful observation (useful in life, as well as in word recognition).

As a result of this brilliant book concept, Theodore Geisel (a k a Theo. Le Sieg -- Geisel backwards, and Dr. Seuss) have teamed up with New Yorker cartoonist, George Booth, to create a fun classic that will be enjoyed by parents and children for many generations to come.

Imagine a day that begins when you look up in bed over your head, and see something funny:

"It all began with that shoe on the wall.

A shoe on the wall . . . ?

Shouldn't be there at all!"

A child wakes up one morning to finds increasing numbers of unusual objects in rather odd places. Pretty soon, the objects even begin start to split apart. "And I said, 'Oh, MAN!' And that's how Wacky Wednesday began."

The child looks out the window and sees a bunch of bananas growing in a normal tree and water running through a garden hose with a long section missing in it. Out in the hall, a candy cane holds up a part of a hall table, one door has two knobs, and a picture is upside down. In the bathroom, the child wears one sock while showering, there's a palm tree in the toilet, one faucet is upside down, and a fish is swimming happily in the shampoo bottle.

In the bedroom while dressing, four things are wrong (including more misplaced shoes). In the kitchen, this grows to five. On the way to school, there are six. Later, down the street, there are seven. Outside the school are eight. In the classroom, there are nine.

That's when cognitive dissonance sets in. The teacher says, "Nothing is wacky here in my class! Get out! You're the wacky one! OUT!"

Outside the school now, there are ten new wacky things. Down the street, eleven more . . . then another twelve.

"I ran and knocked over Patrolman McGann."

"'Don't be sorry,' he smiled. 'It's that kind of day. But be glad! Wacky Wednesday will soon go away!"

"Only twenty things more will be wacky."

"Just find them and then you can go back to bed."

And with that, "Wacky Wednesday was gone . . . and I even got rid of that shoe on the wall."

The pictures present lots of opportunities to help your child notice how things work. Water needs to go through something to come out the other end. You need a door at the end of steps to get into a house. Windows cannot stand by themselves in the middle of a lawn. People don't drive sitting in the back seat of a car. The beauty of this kind of picture juxtaposition is in the opportunity to have many conversations with your child to open up the beauty of how things fit together, and don't work so well when they don't fit.

As for the beginning reader aspect, the book has many one syllable words that rhyme. This provides the maximum ease for decoding the letters and turning them into words. I put in the examples of the rhymes here to make that point for you.

I thought that the ways the details in the pictures were jumbled were quite imaginative. The wacky elements are well distributed on a page, and seldom repeat the jokes. This makes it continually interesting to search for them.

Ultimately, the book is rewarding too for the idea the teacher expresses -- that the child is having a wacky day rather than that anything is really wrong. We all have days like that. Then, suddenly they are over. That is good psychological reassurance for your child. You should encourage that thought, as well.

After you finish enjoying the book, I suggest that you each try your hand at creating a two page layout with pictures and a simple rhyme. That will make you both appreciate the book more, and give you a fun experience together.

Enjoy finding what needs to be unwhacked!

The book should read to "Letters by Theo. Goldin" to and from various different people, E.A. Brinistool, Albert Johnson, Phillip Cole, Fred Dustin and eventually Capt Frederick Benteen. Most of the letters were written when Goldin was very old and blind. Interesting insight into Benteen and a scathing by Benteen of Custer and his preported "conduct". Worth the reading if you truely "understand" what happened on June 25th 1876. Not for the first time reader... you'll be lost within a matter of pages unless you understand the "who, what and where" of different people.

This book is the printing with minimal commentary of letters between Goldin and Benteen. Frederick Benteen was an officer and Goldin an enlisted man in the Seventh Cavalry at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Correspondence between officer and enlisted man is unique in itself. In the case of first hand participants their direct insights into events is always fascinating. This book does not answer any outstanding questions but it does add insights especially relative to Benteen. Anyone interested in the history of the Seventh Cavalry and the personality of Frederick Benteen, a major participant in the Little Big Horn scenario will be interested in this book.

"The Rickover Effect" is a fascinating depiction of Admiral Hyman Rickover's efforts to build the nuclear Navy. This book is not intended to serve as a comprehensive chronicle of Rickover's career and private life, but as a chronicle of Rickover's accomplishments in bringing nuclear power to the Navy as viewed by a subordinate. Within these self-admitted limitations, the book succeeds, but Theodore Rockwell also attempts to turn Rickover's leadership style into some sort of management primer.

Rockwell examines various anecdotes and discusses the effectiveness of Rickover's management acumen in dealing with both political and technical problems. This attempt to explain "The Rickover Effect" is rather clumsy and unnecessary. The reader can judge for him or herself the success of Rickover's abilities.

Readers unfamiliar with Rickover's personality must keep in mind that this account is written by someone who obviously admired and respected Rickover a great deal. Rockwell's close association with Rickover has caused him to see the Admiral through biased eyes. Rockwell sees Rickover as firm but fair, which isn't entirely accurate. Although truly a visionary, Rickover was extremely difficult for most military personnel to get along with and prone to frightening fits of rage. Although he was often the target of attacks on his character, Rickover often treated his political enemies and detractors cruelly, and at times led his own vicious attacks. Rockwell appears sincere in his treatment of Rickover, but it is obvious he doesn't see the Admiral as an outsider would.

With these limitations in mind, this is actually a very entertaining account of how the nuclear Navy started.

The author holds Admiral Rickover in extremely high regard, so much so that the book reads more like advertising than non-fiction. I can't recall a single case in the book where Rickover is described as making a mistake, being unreasonable, or doing something dumb! People in a position to know tell me that Rickover was extremely difficult to work with, especially when challenged by a subordinate, but you'd never guess at such problems from Rockwell's book! Rickover is presented as stern and demanding, but always fair. Despite my nit-picking, this is still a worthwhile book for someone interested in the subject. Rickover definitely knew how to get things done, and deserves great credit for his work on making nuclear power reactors into a working concept. It is highly readable, and the Rickover quotes sprinkled through the pages are worth the purchase price. A lengthy, but more balanced account is in Norman Polmar's book, Rickover.

I thought the book was well written by a man that knew and worked with this very remarkable genius. Rickover probably contributed more than any other person to bringing the USN to the forefront as a world power. Ted Rockwell gave us a good view of how the man made this all possible and even brought out his humorous side. Most refreshing and entertaining.